Vegetation trimmers using flexible trimmer lines are in widespread use. Generally, the trimmer line that is used in rotating string trimmers is manufactured or extruded of nylon materials. The trimmer lines may have various cross-sectional shapes, such as round, oval, square, and multi-lobal. The cross-sectional diameters of the line used in the trimmers vary from larger cross-sectional diameters for commercial trimmers to smaller diameters in the trimmers sold for home use. The diameter at its largest point is generally in the range of 0.050 to 0.170 inches.
Certain types of vegetation trimmers have trimmer line wound and stored on a reel or spool that fits in the housing of the head of the device. The line is played out from the reel in discrete amounts as the line breaks off or wears down. When the supply of line on the storage reel is used up, additional line is provided from a continuous length of replacement line supplied in a trimmer line package. The amount of line that is provided in such packages typically is equal to the amount of line wound on a storage reel, or it is in excess of the amount of line which can be wound on a reel, thereby providing more than one reel's worth of line replacement.
One way of packaging replacement line is to coil the desired length into a toroidal container, known as a donut. Some donut containers are completely sealed and must be opened to take out any line. Another type of donut container is split into two halves that interface with each other around the outer circumference of the container. At the periphery of the container, the halves may abut each other or be separated by a small gap. In either case, the abutment or gap is planar or linear and allows trimmer line to be pulled out of the container. However, trimmer line is resistant to coiling, and the coils expand if they are unbound. In the known split-donut container, when the line begins to uncoil, such as during shipping of the package, the expanding coils easily push their way through the abutment or gap and out of the container. The line must then be rewound into the container upon arrival at a retail facility, or, worse, the line is not rewound and the container is put on the shelf with the trimmer line sticking out of it. A donut container that can contain unbound trimmer line while providing easy access to the line is needed.
Another problem arises during shipping when many donut containers are packed together. It is common for the containers to rub against each other when they are jostled, scratching the facing surfaces of the containers. Depending on the material used for the packages, the damage caused can be so severe as to render opaque an otherwise transparent package. A donut container that limits or prevents this kind of damage is needed.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a container for coiled trimmer line that retains the line in the package but allows easy access to the line. It is a further object that the container be toroidal. Another object of this invention is to provide a trimmer line container that is an improvement over existing donut-shaped containers. A further object is to provide a container that limits surface damage from other containers during shipment. Another object is to provide a method for packaging trimmer line in a toroidal package.